If there is one thing that fascinates me about improv and that is how it is portrayed in Television, books and Film. This is becoming more and more apparent in recent years because the comedy art form is sort of in fashion. There are some interesting topics that we can gain from these ways they are displayed so every so often we are going to look at different scenes from different shows, podcasts and films.

As you know by now, I really enjoy talking about improv discoveries I come across in really random situations on television as they can always lead to a really interesting discussion for how it can help us develop our own skills. Today’s find is very random but it is one I wanted to mention as there are some points we can raise.

We have spoken about The Middle many times on this feature – whether it is about the television show or the podcast. Well, today we are going to discuss another episode where improv is mentioned. I always like to talk about improv and The Middle because it is one show that actually shows it always in a positive light where as a lot of American shows around the time this episode was released do not.

In season 7, Episode 4, Sue is having issues with her roommate as she is someone who has been at college one year more then Sue and she is also a horrible person. She keeps kicking Sue out of the room as she keeps bringing guys back and Sue has had enough and her brought her gay best friend Brad in to help to try and deter them. They decide to play a game of ‘sex chicken’ where Brad and Sue start to ‘improvise’ noises and movements under the covers to try and make Holly and her boyfriend leave them alone. The improvisation that Brad and Sue do is so ridiculous that it creates the comedy in the scene.

This is a fun scene and it is an interesting one when you look at it from the perspective of improv. There are many mistakes in their ‘improv’ and even though their plan didn’t work you can see that they enjoyed trying to improvise in the moment. In improv there are bound to be errors in what you are doing but like I have said many times on this article failure is a great thing in improv.

The one thing that makes this scene great is the approach of Brad – in the show he is so positive about everything and that is something that always pushes Sue to be brave and embrace decisions. That is why this scene is also important to improv even though it is technically not relevant. Being brave and embracing decisions is what can make some of the best improv. When you have people like Brad in a scene it can really push players to enjoy themselves and it gives them the confidence they need to have fun on stage.

If there is one show that always highlights improv in a positive way then it is the comedy show The Middle. That is why I always find it a joy to write about.

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